Prowl’s Guide to Wilderness Survival
by Dragon Star Empress
Summary: Transformers Animated. Given the choice of going to summer camp or spending a few days camping with Prowl and learning to live off the land, Sari decides to go with Prowl and drags Bumblebee along for the trip.


This is actually the beginning of two stories, originally it was supposed to be a romance, involving a forest ranger Prowl meets the first night they're camping, but then I had so much fun looking up the wilderness survival information that I decided to split the story off into two stories with alternate continuations after the first chapter. This one will continue with their camping trip and many more interesting things from my collection of wilderness survival books for Prowl to teach to Sari. The other one won't be posted until I have at least the first several chapters written as I have a bad habit of starting stories and then getting ideas for new ones and taking forever to update the ones I already have posted. This one could have been a one shot with the way I ended it, so hopefully it won't torture anyone if I end up not posting the next chapter right away.

Disclaimer; I don't own Transformers.

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"Are you crazy? You want to go on another camping trip, after what happened last time?" Bumblebee asked in disbelief.

"Last time, we were out there to look for something Cybertronian this time there shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary." Prowl replied.

"But why do I have to go?" Bumblebee asked.

"Because Prime and Ratchet are busy and I've had whole sections of forest fall on me because of taking Bulkhead into the forest and someone else needs to be around to help keep an eye on Sari." Prowl explained.

"I can take care of my self." Sari said as she came into the room carrying backpack, "Last time I was the one who had to take care of you two, remember?"

"Why would you even want to go on another camping trip?" Bumblebee asked.

"Because dad said I need to get outside more and he was going to send me to this boring summer camp. I told him Prowl could teach me more about nature and stuff than I could learn at some camp, so he said if you guys didn't mind taking me camping for a couple days, I could do that instead and Prowl agreed." Sari told him.

"A couple days? With no video games or TV or electric? You're trying to make me go offline aren't you?" Bumblebee asked suspiciously as he dropped on to the couch.

"Pleeease, it would be so much more fun if you came." Sari begged then climbed up onto his shoulder and whispered, "I'll give you a brand new media player if you'll come. It's a prototype that my dad just gave me and it even has a solar powered battery, so as long as we don't let 

Prowl see it we can use it while we're camping and won't have to worry about finding batteries for it."

"Alright, I'll go." Bumblebee said still sounding a little reluctant.

"What exactly did you tell him?" Prowl asked raising an eye ridge.

"Just that I would start crying if he didn't come." Sari replied, while crossing her fingers behind her back.

"You know I can't stand to see her cry." Bumblebee added.

"You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you?" Prowl asked.

"It doesn't matter what I said, what matters is that he's coming." Sari told him. "Lets go get ready to go." She said as she grinned conspiratorially at Bumblebee and they both ran out of the room.

"This looks like a good place to camp, Sari and I will set things up and you can go watch the trees grow or whatever you do out here." Bumblebee said as they walked into a clearing.

"I don't think so, I told Sari's father I would teach her how to survive on her own." Prowl said.

"Can't you just take care of everything? You're so good at it, then we can all relax and enjoy all this nature." Sari said.

"That wouldn't teach you anything, now come over here and help me set up this tent." Prowl said.

Letting out a sigh of resignation Sari walked over to Prowl and he showed her how to set up the tent.

Ten minutes later Sari unzipped the tent and stepped inside then turned and looked out at Prowl and asked. "So now can we relax?"

"Not yet, you still need to find food if you want to eat tonight." Prowl told her.

"That's no big deal I brought hot dogs to cook over the fire." Sari said as she opened a cooler, dug through it for a moment then said, "I know I packed them, just give me a minute they have to be in here."

"Don't bother, I took them out before we left, we're here to teach you to survive on your own and that includes finding your own food." Prowl told her.

"What! But what if we can't find food and when did you sneak the hot dogs out? I don't remember seeing you near the cooler before we left." Sari said.

"Of course you didn't see him, he's the ninja bot remember, it's his job to sneak around and make this harder on us." Bumblebee said.

"You didn't take my marshmallows out too did you?" Sari asked as she ran to check the bag she had packed them in.

"Of course not, I want to teach you how to survive, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop you from doing something that was so important to you last time." Prowl told her.

"Okay, so what exactly are we going to find out here that I can eat?" Sari asked a little skeptically.

"The forest is full of things humans can eat if you know how to identify them." Prowl told her as he pulled a shovel, a fishing pole and a couple of empty containers out of one of one of the large bags they had brought with them.

"Why do you know all this? It's not like we have to eat or could eat anything humans eat." Bumblebee asked.

"Because it's fascinating how humans use to survived before they had stores to get all their food from and teaching Sari how to find food is part of teaching her how to survive out here, so I did some more extensive research about wild foods after I agreed to bring her." Prowl told him.

"Well you have fun boring the poor kid to death; I'll just stay here to go offline from boredom." Bumblebee told him.

"We'll be back in a few hours." Prowl said then he and Sari headed into the forest.

After walking for a while Prowl pointed out some black berries, telling Sari how to identify them. After filling one of the containers with the black barriers they continued until they came to a river inlet with cattails growing around it.

"You can eat the roots and white centers of the lower stalk of these cattails." Prowl told Sari as he pulled a few up and handed them to her, pointing out the edible parts as they pulled them apart and put them into one of the containers.

"What are we looking for now?" Sari asked as they followed the river for a while.

"A clear place for fishing, where the fishing line won't get caught when you cast it." Prowl told her. "This should do." He said as they came to a fairly clear section of the bank and set their stuff down.

"Don't you need some type of bait to catch fish?" Sari asked.

"Yes, that's what the shovel is for." Prowl told her as he started scooping up several shovels full of dirt and carefully pulled out several good sized worms then walked back to the edge of the river and sat down motioning Sari over to sit next to him and showed her how to put the worm on the hook.

"You want me to touch one of those icky slimy worms and stick a hook through the poor helpless thing?" Sari asked looking a little disgusted.

"This is how humans have caught fish for thousands of years, I'm sure you'll do just fine and you can wash your hand's off in the river." He told her as she reluctantly picked up one of the worms and looked at it for a second before putting it her hook then he showed her how to cast the fishing pole.

"So what do we do now?" Sari asked after a couple of minutes of sitting quietly.

"We wait for a fish to try to eat the worm, relax and listen to everything that's going on around you while you wait. Prowl told her.

"What do you mean what's going on around us, there's nothing happening." Sari said.

"Just close your eyes and be silent for a moment then tell me what you hear." Prowl told her

Sighing Sari did as she was told, after a minute she said, "I can hear the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees and making the branches scrap together and making the trees creak."

"What else?" Prowl asked.

"Bugs buzzing and the water moving and birds, I can hear lots of birds and they're making all different kinds of noises." Sari told him smiling.

"Well done." Prowl said smiling at her.

About half an hour later Prowl gently nudged Sari's shoulder and pointed to the other side of the river where a deer and two fawns had stepped out of the forest to get a drink.

"That was so cool and they were so cute." Sari said smiling, after the deer had left.

After about an hour they had caught a couple of fish and were just reeling in their lines when Sari said, "What happened to all the birds? They just stopped singing."

"Something or someone must have scared them." Prowl told her, smiling as he realized she had still been carefully listening to their surroundings.

A few seconds later Bumblebee stepped through the trees behind them, "Are you guys planning on coming back sometime this century? It's so boring out here." he wined.

"It's not boring, it's just different from being in the city, but it can be fun. We saw a deer with two adorable babies and you have to listen to the birds. I never realized how many different sounds they make and Prowl said he would teach me how to tell what types of birds make what sounds, so I'll be able to tell what type of bird is there even if I can't see them." Sari told him.

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with him, he's brainwashing you into being boring like him." Bumblebee said.

"Maybe if you sat quietly for a few minutes you would understand what she's talking about." Prowl told him.

"Or I'd end up so bored my circuits would fry. Why don't I take Sari back and you can stay here with all your birds and nature stuff?" Bumblebee suggested.

"Do you know how to clean a fish?" Prowl asked.

"Why would you want to clean a fish? They live in water, how dirty can they be?" Bumblebee asked.

"As I thought, if I left it to you Sari would end up eating nothing but marshmallows, I'll relax after I make sure Sari has everything she might need." Prowl said as he picked up the last of the fishing supplies and they headed back to the campsite.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing; I never thought I would see the day that you would be killing innocent helpless organics and cutting them up." Bumblebee said as he watched Prowl show Sari how to clean the fish.

"Humans have been eating fish as long as they've been around, this is a perfectly normal thing for a human to eat, especially when out in the wild." Prowl told him.

"But that's disgusting, how can you expect her to eat that?" Bumblebee asked.

"She's never had a problem eating meat before; I don't see why she would have a problem with it now." Prowl said.

"He is right, this really isn't that much different than eating a cheese burger or something, although at least with a burger it doesn't look like anything that was alive by the time I see it." Sari said looking a little uncertainly at the fish that Prowl was gutting as she set up wood for a campfire.

Once Prowl had finished with the fish Sari held two logs out to Prowl so he could start the fire. "You need to learn to start a fire your self." He told her.

"But I tried last time and I couldn't make it work." Sari said.

"It didn't work because no one has ever taught you how to do it properly." Prowl told her.

"You started the fire the same why I had tried to and it worked for you." Sari said.

"I'm much stronger and faster than you are, it takes more effort for a human to start a fire like that." Prowl told her. "Now find a thin, live tree branch about a foot and a half long, a good sturdy stick about the same thickness as the live branch and some dead grass and leaves."

"So I get to cut the branch off of a tree?" Sari asked grinning as she pulled a hatchet out of a box of stuff they had brought with them.

"Yes." Prowl replied then said. "Bumblebee go with her, I don't want her alone using that hatchet."

"All right." Bumblebee said making a point of sounding board as he reluctantly got up and followed Sari into the forest.

When they came back about fifteen minutes later Prowl had gotten a flat piece of wood and was sitting by the campfire carving a groove into it.

"So what do we do now?" Sari asked as she walked over to Prowl and setting her supplies down.

"Make sort of a nest out of the grass and leaves." Prowl told her as he set the board down and pulled a piece of string out of a box.

"How's this?" Sari asked a moment later showing him the nest she had made.

"That's very good, now set it under the groove I've cut into the board." He told her. Once she had he handed her the bow he had made with the softer branch, the sturdier stick and a rock with an indentation in the center. "Now loop the string on the bow around the stick and place the bottom of it in the groove on the board." He told her.

"Okay. What's the rock for?" She asked as she did.

"Put it over the top of the stick and press down on it and brace the board with your foot then start moving the bow back and forth, once you're sure it wont slip start moving it faster and press harder with the rock until it starts smoking." Prowl told her.

After about ten minutes of trying Sari squealed as smoke started rising from the board. "It's working, it's actually working!" she said excitedly. "What do I do now?"

"Carefully dump the ember it into the nest and blow on it gently as you set it onto the wood for the fire, keep blowing on it until you see flames then carefully add some kindling to it." Prowl told her smiling proudly at her.

She did as he had told her and a few minutes later had the campfire blazing. "I did it! I started the fire!" she squealed as she jumped onto Prowl's leg and threw her arms around his neck hugging him excitedly for a moment before running over to Bumblebee and hugging him.

"Isn't this cool?" she asked as Bumblebee carried her back over next to the fire.

"Yep, you're pretty amazing." Bumblebee said smiling at her. "So what happens now?"

"We'll cook her food and you get to deal with this." Prowl said as he handed Bumblebee the bucket of fish guts and a shovel. "Bury it at least 200 yards from camp and rinse out the bucket in the river before you bring it back." Prowl told him.

"You're enjoying making me do the disgusting work aren't you?" Bumblebee asked looking disgustedly at the bucket.

"You can clean the fish next time and I'll take care of the leftovers if you would prefer." Prowl offered.

"No, this is fine." Bumblebee replied quickly then headed off into the woods.

By the time bumblebee got back Sari was eating and Prowl was sharpening a stick for her to cook her marshmallows on.

"So you have anything else you have to teach her tonight or are you going to go relax and do whatever it is you do out here?" Bumblebee asked.

"I suppose I can, what will you two do?" Prowl asked.

"Um-" Bumblebee started, but was luckily cut off by Sari.

"We'll just tell ghost stories or something." She said.

"So you won't be wanting this?" Prowl said holding up the media player Sari had brought with her.

Sari and Bumblebee looked nervously at each other for a minute. "Just please don't crush it." Bumblebee pleaded.

"How did you know we brought it?" Sari asked.

"I saw you show it to Bumblebee and put it in your backpack when you thought I wasn't looking before we left. I snuck it out when I snuck the hotdogs out of the cooler." Prowl told her.

"So if you knew about it before we left why didn't you leave it at the base?" Sari asked.

"I thought if you were good while I taught you everything I wanted to you would deserve a reward." Prowl said as he dropped it into her hands, "Just keep the volume low enough you two are the only ones who can hear it."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Sari said grinning.

"Okay who are you and what have you done with Prowl? There's no way the real Prowl would just hand us a media player when we're camping." Bumblebee said.

"We're out here to teach Sari how to survive in the wild and she's been doing quite well and this way you two can relax the way you want to and I can relax without you bothering me or worrying too much about what trouble you might be getting into." Prowl told him.

"So where should we set this up?" Bumblebee asked Sari.

Sari groaned and said. "We forgot to bring something to project it onto."

"Great, I can't believe we forgot that, again! That's what got my last media player crushed." Bumblebee said.

"Don't we have anything we can use to make a screen?" Sari asked.

"All we have with us are a bunch of boring camping supplies, what could we possibly use for a screen?" Bumblebee asked.

"I'm sure you could eventually think of something, but I thought I would save you the time and avoid you trying to use my hologram screen again." Prowl said walking over to a tree and loosening a rope to lower a screen made out of one of the blankets they had brought attached to a frame of branches.

"Thanks Prowl." Sari said running over to hug his leg.

"You're welcome, just try to keep Bumblebee out of trouble." Prowl told her.

"I will." She replied smiling before she ran back over to Bumblebee.

"Yeah, thanks. Who would have thought the nature bot would be so good at setting up machine powered entertainment." Bumblebee said as he set up the media player then sat down and helped Sari climb up onto his shoulder as they started discussing what they should watch.

Prowl left them to watch their movies and found a place far enough away from the campsite that he could enjoy the sounds of the forest and the clear night sky without any interference from the others.

Please leave a review, ideas, suggestions or constructive criticism is welcome.


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